Park Avenue Building downtown hits market after owner's death

The Park Avenue Building was constructed in 1922 and has been empty for years.

The Park Avenue Building in downtown Detroit at 2001 Park Ave. is for sale following the January death of longtime owner Ralph Sachs at the age of 76.

Sachs had owned the building for decades, said David Cohen, the broker with Farmington Hills-based Friedman Integrated Real Estate Solutions LLC listing the building and 0.34-acre parking lot immediately north of the building for sale.

The parking lot used to be the Sachs-owned Hotel Charlevoix, which was built in 1905 and demolished in 2013, according to Historic Detroit, which tracks Detroit buildings and architecture.

He bought both properties in 1981.

The Albert Kahn-designed Park Avenue Building is 102,000 square feet and has been vacant for years. There is no listing price for either the building or parking lot, which are being sold by Sachs' estate along with the rest of his portfolio of mostly residential houses, Cohen said.

It was built in 1922 and had in recent years faced demolition, according to a 2014 Curbed Detroit article.

Sachs' online funeral details from the Ira Kaufman Chapel described him as a doctor and attorney.